Lake Taupo

We stayed at a commercial site last night, compared to a DoC site which is self managed with an honesty box for payment). I was amused by a sign pinned up, left over from New Year Celebrations, it really sums up the laid back attitude to life which the Kiwis have, and their enormous tolerance. Instead of ' No drinking' or ' Alcohol Forbidden', it said ' Extreme drunken behaviour will not be tolerated', I loved the 'extreme' there. It also said, ' Please keep bad language to a minimum'.
We are having to make a few decisions now, aware that we only have three weeks left, so today we took a main road and drove 340 kms north in about four hours, rather than meandering along the back roads. That enabled us to bypass some parts we had seen before as we first made our way down to Wellington, and miss out some 'non-scenic' bits. First, however, we had a lovely rode from the campsite to pick up the main road. We curved our way up to 500 mts, losing above the overnight cloud which lingered in the valleys below us. Who said that the South Island had a monopoly on scenery!
Once in Lake Taupo we went to see the Geothermal Power Station and managed to get there soon after the flood gates had been opened and the rapids were in flood. The highlight of the afternoon has to be the visit to the 'Craters of the Moon' area though. It is an expanse of geothermal activity, with steam rising up in plumes through the scrub and bubbling pools of boiling mud. It was amazing.